Who holds the reins of your character?

Speech by Fr Immanuel Ayankudy CMI, Dharmaram, Bangalore on Sunday, 20th June, 2004 at St Thomas Forane Church, Dharmaram, Bangalore

Author: Jobi Varghese   Date: July 12, 2004

Stories and anecdotes certainly add spice to speeches and scripts. Jesus Himself used a number of parables all through His sermons and teachings. The reason is that these short narratives make profound theories, rigid rules, and mysterious customs much simpler and clearer, thereby helping readers and listeners absorb the meanings and create an indelible mark in their minds.

Fr Immanuel Ayankudy CMI mentioned a short tale during the evening Mass at St Thomas Forane Church, Bangalore on Sunday, 20th June, 2004. The day's Gospel reading referred to the Sermon on the Mount (Lk 6:27-42), in which Jesus calls upon the crowds to love their enemies and do good to them. Jesus asks each one of the listeners to first rectify their own heavy mistakes before trying to correct others' minor lapses.

Fr Immanuel now quoted a brief story, which goes like this: Two friends together would take morning walks regularly. On their way back, one of them would buy a copy of the newspaper from a shop. The shopkeeper, on handing the newspaper, would always throw harsh looks at the customer, and sometimes even utter disgruntled words. However, our man would always leave the shop saying "thank you!". Having witnessed this for several days, his companion asked him why he always kept his cool and never got angry with the shopkeeper. To this, his friend replied: "Dear friend, it is I who have got the control over my behaviour, and not that vendor!"

This is a very simple story, but offers enough food for thought. Our actions should not be decided by others' taunts or remarks; instead, each of us must exercise control over our character; we should draw in the reins on our temperament.

In other words, Fr Immanuel advised, we must not dance to the tunes of others who try to exploit us. We must not let our tempers fray under testing conditions.

"But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked." (Lk 6:35)

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